Court of Auditors

                   Court of Auditors

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PRESENTATION

Court of Auditors, made up jurisdiction irremovable magistrates charged supervise the implementation of the budget of the State.

Created in 1807 by Napoleon I ^er, the Court of Auditors has two types of attributions, jurisdictional and administrative. Its jurisdictional mission consists in controlling the regularity of the accounts establish by the public accountants (national State and publicly-owned establishments); its administrative offices relate to the control of the good employment and the good management of the public funds.

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ORGANIZATION

The Court of Auditors includes/understands seven rooms, specialized by sector (finances, defense, education, health, etc.) ; each room consists of about thirty magistrates and rapporteurs. It freely establishes its checking routine (independently of the executive power or legislative), according to a procedure inquisitoire. Each control is entrusted to one or more rapporteurs, who enjoy a very wide right of investigation. However, the procedure is also contradictory, the work of the rapporteur being submitted to the minority report of a main adviser. 

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JURISDICTIONAL MISSION

The Court of Auditors is charged to control the accounts of the public accountants in the various services of the State. Except exception, it does not have to appreciate the fault of the accountant, but to note that an irregular expenditure was paid, that a receipt was not recovered. It is the direction of the proverb "the Court judges the accounts, not the accountants". It is moreover a judge of call for the decisions returned by the regional Rooms of the accounts which judge the accounts of the local communities. It returns various categories of stops (stop of discharge, stop of debit balance, stop of final discharge, stop in advance).

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ADMINISTRATIVE MISSION

The Court of Auditors operates an administrative control on the directors of the budget of the State, on the public companies, the social welfare and in a more general way on all the organizations and associations which profit from financial contests of the State (public subsidies). In the event of irregularities observed, the Court addresses "observations" to the administrative authorities of supervision. Thus the Court of Auditors for example was interested in 1996 in management of the ARC, association of assistance to research against cancer. It thus pointed out that nearly 60 p. 100 of the gifts sent to association were devoted to the administrative expenditures of association and that a small share only went directly to research. It is by this type of reports/ratios that the Court has the most impact near the public opinion.

Each year, the Court of Auditors works out a public report/ratio with the president of the Republic, largely taken again by the press. One finds observations there on the way in which the public funds through significant examples are managed.

Large trade, the Court of Auditors is mainly made up of alumni of the national School of administration (ENA). Jacques Chirac, Michel Jobert or Pierre Joxe, who in were a First president of 1993 to 2001, began their career in the public office at the Court of Auditors. In 2001, it is François Logerot who was named with the head of this jurisdiction. Philippe Séguin succeeds to him in 2004.